Phil McAnespie – Honey Bee Communication

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The club was buzzing on Tuesday evening when our guest speaker was Phil McAnespie. Phil, a locally well-known and respected beekeeper, and past-president of the Scottish Beekeepers Association (SBA), had previously talked to the club some years ago and had come along this time to explain to the members the amazing and varied ways that bees communicate.

Principal amongst these is the waggle dance which enables a bee to direct others in the hive to important food sources. Discovery of this hugely important signalling method is attributed to the experimental physiologist and Nobel prize winner, Karl von Frisch (1886–1982).

Understanding of honey bee communication methods has been greatly advanced through the work of American academic, Tom Seeley, who carries out practical research into the behaviour and social life of honey bees. His work on Swarm Intelligence (SI – the solving of cognitive problems by a group of individuals (hive in the case of bees who pool their knowledge and process it through social interactions) has been instrumental in improving our understanding. SI is a means whereby a group can overcome some of the cognitive limitations of its members. SI is a rapidly developing topic that has been investigated mainly in social insects (ants, termites, social wasps, and social bees) but has relevance to all other animals, including humans.

Pheromones are chemical substances (like a scent) that are emitted from the glands of an animal and serve as a signal to other individuals of the same species to engage in some kind of behaviour (such as mating). They are involved in almost every aspect of the honey bee colony life: development and reproduction (including queen mating and swarming), foraging, defence, orientation, and in general the whole integration of colony activities, from foundation to decline. Phil explained how all these various aspects of the employment of pheremones are critical to the success of a bee colony.

As a side issue he updated us on how bee populations were faring in the present day environment. He considered that the greatest threat to bees today was “man”. Wetter summers, possibly brought about by climate change, has made life difficult for bee colonies, particularly in western Scotland. Suitable foraging days are fewer and honey bees are more dependent on their stores which means less honey for the beekeepers. However, feral colonies are now largely absent and so beekeeping is essential to the continuation of this species of pollinators.

Sinclair Williamson thanked Phil for his entertaining talk and in his moment of reflection urged members to consider finding space in their front gardens for grass and plants to help bees rather than creating hard-landscaping and car-parking surfaces.